A target of 288 in women's cricket is a tall order but India's opener Punam Raut's lack of power hurt the hosts badly as she undid all the hard work done by her opening partner Smriti Mandhana (67 off 53 balls).

Veteran players Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj and T-20 specialist off-spinner Anuja Patil have also been included in the squad, India will play their first match of the tri-series against Australia on March 22 in Mumbai.

Recently, the Indian women's team had a highly successful tour of South Africa as Mithali led the ODI side to a 2-1 win, while Harmanpreet Kaur guided a young squad to an emphatic 3-1 victory in a five-match T20I series.

Chasing a modest 143, India cantered to victory in 19.1 overs as Mandhana hit a blistering 57 off 42 balls while Raj anchored the innings to perfection with her second successive half-century, remaining unbeaten on 76 off 61 balls.

The way the Indians came out all guns blazing in the first T20, it seemed the loss in the inconsequential third ODI prior to the series was just a rare bad day in office and their confidence hardly took a beating.